Rating Physician Groups

In one of the first attempts to compile a health care report card on physician groups, a California employers’ organization recently published a report that used patient surveys and data on preventive care to compare doctors.

The study’s sponsor, the Pacific Business Group on Health, hopes that employers and consumers will use the information to help select doctors during open-enrollment periods for health plans.

The study, which involved physician groups in California, Oregon and Washington state, surveyed 27 medical groups in Southern California. The average overall satisfaction was 78%. Consumers, or patients, gave the groups an overall score of 64 on scale of 100 for quality of care, 59 for the ease of getting care and specialist referrals, and 62 for doctors’ communication skills.

The study also included information about how well doctors kept high blood pressure and cholesterol under control.

The data were based on the responses to survey questions of 58,000 members of HMOs.

In a portion of the study that assessed patients’ satisfaction with their doctor and their willingness to recommend the doctor to family friends, Southern California doctors were rated lower than all other groups.

Physician groups participation in the study was voluntary, so not all Southern California groups were included. Also, the study involved only larger medical groups, so individual doctors’ offices or small group practices are not included.

Consumer Experiences with Physician Groups

1996 Performance--Southern California

Overall Rating Based on Consumer Responses

Mean score based on 100-point scale

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Physician Overall Quality Ease of Group Satisfaction of Getting Care Care & Referrals AVERAGE Southern California 78 64 59 Adventist Health Medical Foundation 76 60 53 Affiliated Private Practice Assn. 77 65 61 All Care Medical Group 71 53 53 Beaver Medical Group 84 70 62 Bristol Park Medical Group 79 64 59 Cedars-Sinai Medical Group 80 67 59 Clinician’s Central Medical Group 74 60 61 Community Medical Group 76 62 60 Facey Medical Foundation 80 65 59 FPA Medical Management 76 65 61 Friendly Hills Healthcare Network 78 61 59 Greater Valley Medical Group 77 63 56 HealthCare Partners Medical Group 74 57 53 HealthCare Partners IPA Network 73 59 55 Huntington Provider Group 80 65 60 Kaiser--S. Calif. Permanente Med. Group 80 66 59 Monarch Healthcare 76 65 60 MedPartners/Mullikin Medical Group 75 61 55 Pacific IPA 74 58 56 Prime Care Medical Network/Desert Valley Medical Group 79 68 64 Scripps Clinic & Research Found. 82 69 62 Sharp Community Medical Group 82 70 65 Sharp Mission Park Medical Group 81 69 64 Sharp-Rees Stealy Medical Group 81 65 62 St. Joseph’s Medical Group 76 61 58 Torrance Hospital IPA 73 61 60 Yorba Park Medical Group 79 66 62

Physician Doctors’ Group Communication Skills AVERAGE Southern California 62 Adventist Health Medical Foundation 61 Affiliated Private Practice Assn. 64 All Care Medical Group 54 Beaver Medical Group 69 Bristol Park Medical Group 64 Cedars-Sinai Medical Group 66 Clinician’s Central Medical Group 57 Community Medical Group 61 Facey Medical Foundation 64 FPA Medical Management 65 Friendly Hills Healthcare Network 58 Greater Valley Medical Group 63 HealthCare Partners Medical Group 56 HealthCare Partners IPA Network 55 Huntington Provider Group 63 Kaiser--S. Calif. Permanente Med. Group 66 Monarch Healthcare 63 MedPartners/Mullikin Medical Group 60 Pacific IPA 55 Prime Care Medical Network/Desert Valley Medical Group 66 Scripps Clinic & Research Found. 67 Sharp Community Medical Group 68 Sharp Mission Park Medical Group 69 Sharp-Rees Stealy Medical Group 65 St. Joseph’s Medical Group 62 Torrance Hospital IPA 58 Yorba Park Medical Group 65

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Percentage reporting

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Physician Blood Cholesterol Group Presure Under Under Control Control AVERAGE Southern California 83 47 Adventist Health Medical Foundation 89 57 Affiliated Private Practice Assn. 88 49 All Care Medical Group 77 43 Beaver Medical Group 81 35 Bristol Park Medical Group 80 50 Cedars-Sinai Medical Group 81 47 Clinician’s Central Medical Group 85 36 Community Medical Group 88 44 Facey Medical Foundation 86 47 FPA Medical Management 85 50 Friendly Hills Healthcare Network 82 47 Greater Valley Medical Group 86 47 HealthCare Partners Medical Group 88 40 HealthCare Partners IPA Network 87 43 Huntington Provider Group 84 48 Kaiser--S. Calif. Permanente Med. Group 84 51 Monarch Healthcare 91 45 MedPartners/Mullikin Medical Group 80 53 Pacific IPA 70 32 Prime Care Medical Network/ Desert Valley Medical Group 72 57 Scripps Clinic & Research Found. 82 38 Sharp Community Medical Group 78 47 Sharp Mission Park Medical Group 79 51 Sharp-Rees Stealy Medical Group 86 53 St. Joseph’s Medical Group 90 38 Torrance Hospital IPA 90 57 Yorba Park Medical Group 80 36

Physician Preventive Group Care Counseling* AVERAGE Southern California 28 Adventist Health Medical Foundation 393 Affiliated Private Practice Assn. 28 All Care Medical Group 26 Beaver Medical Group 29 Bristol Park Medical Group 30 Cedars-Sinai Medical Group 40 Clinician’s Central Medical Group 25 Community Medical Group 28 Facey Medical Foundation 30 FPA Medical Management 32 Friendly Hills Healthcare Network 23 Greater Valley Medical Group 33 HealthCare Partners Medical Group 30 HealthCare Partners IPA Network 21 Huntington Provider Group 30 Kaiser--S. Calif. Permanente Med. Group 34 Monarch Healthcare 25 MedPartners/Mullikin Medical Group 21 Pacific IPA 21 Prime Care Medical Network/ Desert Valley Medical Group 25 Scripps Clinic & Research Found. 32 Sharp Community Medical Group 40 Sharp Mission Park Medical Group 35 Sharp-Rees Stealy Medical Group 26 St. Joseph’s Medical Group 36 Torrance Hospital IPA 27 Yorba Park Medical Group 33

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The Pacific Business Group on Health and the Medical Quality Commission, 1997

* The percentage of the group’s patients who were counseled on three or more of the following recommended preventive care topics: exercise, nutrition, smoking, injury prevention, motor vehicle safety, alcohol and substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases or birth control.